Eric Ericson

Review: The 28-strong mixed-voice, much-awarded Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, founded by Eric in 1945, has continually searched out new music and maintained a central position on the Swedish and international music scene. This and their pure "Nordic" sound has made them the ideal ensemble for several generations of Swedish composers, in this case Sven-David Sandstrom, whose groundbreaking 1978 piece "A Cradle Song/The Tyger" is presented here. There are 6 movements in this eclectic, spiritual work, "Hear My Prayer, O Lord," "April and Silence," "Etude No. 4 as in E Minor" (based on a strange, moody secular poem by Tobias Berggren), the title song, with text by William Blake, "A New Heaven and A New Earth," and "Agnus Dei." The extensive liner notes, in Swedish and English, have all the lyrics, and information about the composers and their sources. Breathtaking and unique material from the EECC.

Songlist: Hear My Prayer, O Lord, April and Silence, Etude No 4 as in E Minor, A Cradle Song - The Tyger, A New Heaven and A New Earth, Agnus Dei

Review: The venerable, renowned 28 mixed-voice EECC brings us a collection of 6 eclectic pieces by avant-garde, contemporary Swedish composers Jan Sandstrom, Anders Hillborg, Anders Eliasson, Thomas Jennefelt and Sven David Sandstrom. Jan Sandstrom's Two Choral Poems is based on words by Harry Martinson, Hillborg's surreal, etheric piece (with an undecipherable, upside-down name) has no words, Elisson's "Breathing Room" is a fascinating, dissonant vocal smorgasbord, Jennefelt's powerful "O Domine" dramatically explores attitudes to death before becoming tranquil and reflective. And finally, Sven Sandstrom's "Etude No. 4, as in E minor" is based on a melancholy poem by Tobias Berggren that uses the waning of summer as a metaphor for similar changes in humankind. A strong, surprising, cutting edge collection from one of Europe's most versatile and innovative chamber choirs.

Songlist: Ingvar Lidholm - De Profundis, Tomas Jennefelt - Villarosa Sarialdi, Sven-David Sandstrom - Ave Maria, Jorgen Jersild - Min Yndlingdal, Bo Holten - Regn og ruskog Rosenbusk, Thorkell Sigurbjornsson - Lofsongur Engla, Knut Nystedt - O Crux, Einojuhani Rautavaara - Die Erste Elegie

Review: The new musical ideas emerging during the thirties and forties in the Church of Sweden came as a reaction against romantic ideals and dreamlike sound pictures. The focus of attention now turned to earlier music. Authentic performance became de rigeur, and the New Objectivity soon beccame both art form and life-style. The music which resulted seems today amazingly fresh and timeless. Eric Ericson directs his own choir in performances of choral compositions from Gottfrid Berg to Sven-Erik Back, many of which he premiered. We hear Rolf Stenholm at the 1949 organ of the Oscar Church, Stockholm.

Songlist: Three Latin Hymns: Veni creator spiritus, Three Latin Hymns: Miserere, Three Latin Hymns: Ave Maria, Huru ljuvliga aro icke dina boningar, Lar oss betanka huru fa vara dagar aro, Kyrie, Johannes sag sa klar en syn, De som med tarar sa, Se, sasom en handsbredd (Motett), Om I vanden om och aren stilla (Motett), Det brinner pa en o som heter jorden (Koral), Jag kanner dig i noden (Koral), Den stund ar vard att prisa, Ty sa alskade Gud varlden, Som sadden fornimmer Guds valbehag, Ur Adventsbon, Lov vare dig, o Jesu Krist (Koralpartita), Toccata a-moll, Psalmus vespertinus, Fantasia ostinata

Review: The venerable, renowned 28 mixed-voice EECC brings us a collection of 6 eclectic pieces by avant-garde, contemporary Swedish composers Jan Sandstrom, Anders Hillborg, Anders Eliasson, Thomas Jennefelt and Sven David Sandstrom. Jan Sandstrom's Two Choral Poems is based on words by Harry Martinson, Hillborg's surreal, etheric piece (with an undecipherable, upside-down name) has no words, Elisson's "Breathing Room" is a fascinating, dissonant vocal smorgasbord, Jennefelt's powerful "O Domine" dramatically explores attitudes to death before becoming tranquil and reflective. And finally, Sven Sandstrom's "Etude No. 4, as in E minor" is based on a melancholy poem by Tobias Berggren that uses the waning of summer as a metaphor for similar changes in humankind. A strong, surprising, cutting edge collection from one of Europe's most versatile and innovative chamber choirs.

Songlist: Jan Sandsrom - Tva korpoem: Anrop (Harry Martinson), Jan Sandsrom - Tva japanska landskap (Harry Martinson), Anders Hillborg -, Anders Eliasson - Breathing Room (Tomas Transtromer), Thomas Jennefelt - O, Domine, Sven David Ssanstrom - Eytd Nr 4 som iE-moll (Tobias Berggren)

Review: Previously unpublished recordings. Nominated for Swedish Grammy Award. Two poems with lyrics by Osten Sjostrand for mixed choir and Gustav Mahler's devout 16-tone polyphonic Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Daniel-Lesurs seven-invest Le Cantique des Cantiques shows Eric's interest in and connection to the French idiom. In Arnold Schoenberg's powerful Friede auf Erden for eight-voice mixed choir also participates Eric Ericson's other favorites Radio Choir and the School of Music Chamber Choir.

Songlist: St. Godric's Hymn, I mon waxe wod, Lenten is come, The long night, Yif ic of love can, Carol, Ye that pasen, A death, Tva dikter: Förvandlignar i vintervatten, Tva dikter: Metamorfoser vid Siljan, ch bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Den enda stunden, Dialogue, La voix du bien-aime, Le songe, Le roi Salomon, Le jardin clos, La Sulamite, Epithalame, Friede auf Erden

Review: Eric Ericson presents contemporary Swedish choral music on a CD of which a noted reviewer wrote: "It's almost too good! Two of our foremost 20th century composers are each represented by their five foremost compositions, performed by our best choir and our foremost choral conductor - and, moreover, with a quality of sound engineering both bright and beautiful."

Songlist: Laudi (Lidholm), Canto LXXXI, ...a riveder le stelle, Canzone 126 di Francesco Petrarca Op. 6 (Werle), Trees

Review: Texture and dynamics are among Eric Ericson's main tools for this Volume 2 of contemporary Swedish choral music. Sven-Erik Back, Lars Edlund, Miklos Maros and Arne Mellnas are presented - that is to say, some of our most eminent composers, represented by works of which several are classics already. "A superb presentation of the current high standard of Swedish choral music" was one reviewer's verdict.

Songlist: Natten ar framskriden (Back), Jesus tank pa mig, Morkret skall skilja, Gloria (Edlund), Elegi, Nenia, Succsim (Mellnas), Dream, Turba (Maros)

Review: More silliness from Sweden's all-male choir Orphei Drangar (OD), yearly live concerts that were founded in 1962, the ones here taking place from 1987 to 1990, that featured "Caprices," or whims and improvisations in concerts (see review for "Capricer Med OD, Del 1964-69"). 18 songs, some in Swedish, some in English; some favorites are "Mozart's Pianokonsert nr 21," "Bluesette," "Teach Me Tiger," "Sudda, sudda," "Yuppie Rap," "At The Hop/Rock Around the Clock" and "I Could Have Danced All Night." OK, sometimes we wish we could understand Swedish and see what's happening when the audience cracks up, but there's still a lot to get a laugh from and enjoy here.

Songlist: Sveriges Flaggstang, Joakim Uti Babylon, Vem Kan Segla/Fjariln Vingad, Kolm Mul Oli Kaunist Sona, Mozarts Pianokonsert Nr 21 (med variationer), Stadshotellet, Bluesette, Balladen Om Herr Rosenbloms Speleman, Teach Me Tiger, Sudda, Sudda, Yuppie-Rap, La Vie En Rose, Kulldansen, At The Hop/Rock Around The Clock, Iltapilvia, Bedragarens Vag, Carola, I Could Have Danced All Night

Review: The 1960s saw the beginning of the "Caprice," an annual event that soon gained great popularity. It was a wholly new concert form in Sweden: a mixture of musical styles, everything from serious classical music to jazz and folk music, and as time went on it became more and more of a scenic production with dramatizations, choreography and slapstick humor. An important ingredient was the appearance of one or more mystery guest artists. Over the years, many of Sweden's foremost artists within various genres ahve appeared to suprise the audience, and often have the opportunity to present themselves form a new angle. The development of the Caprice would hardly have been possible without the special conditions that Orphei Drangar has to offer: Eric Ericson's musical versatility and curiosity, not to mention his wide-ranging contacts within Swedish artistic circles; Robert Sund's skill as an arranger, of which this CD provides ample evidence; and his brother Hakan's artistry at the piano, or an equally high calibre in classical music and in jazz.

Songlist: There's no business, White Christmas, Broderna Sund of Music - Variationer over Csardas, Fabodpsalm, Smaka syltan, pastorn, Midzjtnatzskin radznjeff, Rysk visa, Yngve Gamlins sprakkurs, Naturljud i Hagaparken, Vila vid denna kalla, Fjariln vingad syns pa Haga, Gubben ar gammal, Hagakoren, Mood Indigo, Fly me to the moon, The drunken sailor, Hor I O / Nu ar det jul, Det ar en ros utsprungen, O helga natt, Chopin a la suedoise

Review: Not only is Orphei Drangar one of the oldest and best men's choirs in the world, but it is a true gathering of individualists, almost all of whom have amde of will make their mark in professions other than music. Given this urge to express themselves as individuals, their popular pre-CHristmas concerts, known locally as "caprices," are not just a collective letting down of hair," but a much-appreciated opportunity for displaying all sorts of individual talents not usually required of choristers -- whether this be writing musical sketches, singing in some hitherto undiscovered register, representing half of a theatrical horse and etceteras. Add to this Eric Ericson, the world's greatest choral conductor -- who looked after Orphei Drangar for forty years because he enjoyed them so much -- and the mixture is potent, not to say explosive. Like all the greatest musicians Eric Ericson has that well-developed sense of humor that comes from recognizing that one has been entrusted with a very rare gift. Together, Eric Ericson and Orphei Drangar let their hair down in grand style. Indeed they elevate the very concept of "letting one's hair down" into something like an art form.

Songlist: Hor I Orphei Drangar / Kalinka, Pa faltet stod en liten bjork, Balladen om Eugen Cork, Livet ar ett helvete, Halsa dom dar hemma, Fragancia, Julgranen, Nu har jag fatt den jag vill ha, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Stormy Weather, True Love, Norgehistoria, Engelska flottan, Kivikspolka, Poor Lonesome Cowboy, Feeling Too Good Blues, Hark, Ye Sons if Orpheus, Maybe It«s Because I'm a Londoner, Jag ser pa dina ogon / 5000 man, Viljasangen, Lat oss liksom svalorna, Operetten ar dod

Review: This is the fourth volume of a series of discs documenting the Caprices -- the ever popular pre-Christmas entertainments that Orphei Drangar started in 1962. By 1982, the Caprices had found the form that most people associate with them today: one or more guest artists -- singers, musicians, comedians, actors or actresses -- their names a well-kept secret until the opening night; a theme for the performance providing opportunities for musical and theatrical pranks, and alarming leaps between different moods and styles.

Songlist: Smideskoren ur Trubaduren, Gremlins aria ur Eugen Onegin, Diana, If Love's a Sweet Passion, Tiger Rag, Gregoriansk Ja, jag kommer, En manskenspromenad, Kom i min famn, Humanifestet, Till gladjens varn och ara, symfoni i fyra satser, Kinesisk Hor, I Orphei Drangar, Man jiang hong, Vantat haver jag, Nu ar det gott att leva, Cadillac, Jag hatar man ur Kiss me Kate, She's Leaving Home, Danga, Two Sleepy People, Send In The Clowns, Sophisticated Lady

Review: This disc presents an international selection of music from Orphei Drangar's concert repertoire as well as two opera choruses in collaboration with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Folk songs from Sweden open the recording followed by many twentieth century works for men's voice chorus. From Eastern Europe there are "Four Old Folk Songs" by Bela Bartok and two of "The Songs of Hamlet" by Estonian composer Veijo Tormis. From America, "A Stopwatch" by Samuel Barber captures a scene from the Spanish Civil War in which he and poet Stephen Spender volunteered. Two of the most beloved opera choruses end the program: the chorus of Gypsy's (Anvil Chorus) from Verdi's Il Trovatore and the chorus of Soldiers from Gounod's Faust. This inspired recording of Highlights comes from the choir's work with the incomparable Eric Ericson.

Songlist: Hej dunkom, Uti voar hage, Pa fjallet i sol, Ett bondbrollop: 4 I brollopsgarden, Kung Liljekonvalje, Four Old Hungarian Songs, The Songs of Hamlet, Three Slovakian Folksongs, Wir zogen in das Feld, Traumlicht, An das meer, A Stopwatch, Il brivido, Psaume 121, Saltarelle, Il trovatore: Coro di zingari -, Faust: Choeur des soldats

Review: Of the hundreds of songs written by Franz Schubert, those for solo voice are best known today. He also wrote over one hundred songs for men's choir. Occasionally, they were performed by quartets in private settings and a few of them were published during Schubert's lifetime. But it was not until nearly forty years after his death that people began to realize that this music was out there. In Vienna in 1866 a volume of his choruses was published by Johann Herbeck, who was a champion of Schubert's unknown music. These songs vary in style from piano or string accompaniment to a cappella. Occasionally, there is a soloist, as in "Standchen," for male choir, alto solo and piano. For this recording Orphei Drangar, conducted by Robert Sund is joined by alto Malena Ernman, tenor Jonas Degerfeldt, pianist Folke Alin and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The always brilliant OD sings these rarely performed works with beauty and grace.

Songlist: Nachtgesang, Die Nacht, Der Gondelfahrer, Sehnsucht, Im Gegenwartigen Vergangenes, Liebe, Standchen, Grab und Mond, Der 23 Psalm, Die einsiedelei, Nachthelle, Trinklied ist der Schritt der Zeit, Geist der Liebe, Gesang der Geister uber

Review: Born in 1921, the composer Ingvar Lidholm is the doyen of Swedish music. We recently released three CDs as a survey of his orchestral works, and now the time has come for this two-disc set of his music for choir a cappella. Containing the absolute majority of Lidholm's works in this genre, this release is also a documentation of the unique collaboration between the composer and the renowned choral conductor Eric Ericson. Most of these works, starting with Laudi from 1947, were actually written for the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, an ensemble which has been described as 'the Mercedes of the choral world' and which is used by conductors such as Muti, Abbado and Levine for concerts and recordings. With the EECC as his instrument, Lidholm has created a choral style which is both virtuosic and expressive while ofet exploring moral issues, for instance in The Persians, a setting a scene from Aeschylus's tragedy, which in Lidholm's opinion deals with 'the curse of power-mad leaders throughout history, not least in our own time.' Texts from or about classical antiquity have often provided Lidholm with inspiration, for instance in Greek Gravestone and Two Greek Epigrams. Another major source of material has been the Swedish playwright August Strindberg: 'demented and deranged in many ways, a fantastic inspiration'. Lidholm has used texts by Strindberg in various works on this disc, such as the extracts from the opera 'A Dreamplay', in which the choir has an important musical function. These recordings, made between February 2003 and April 2005 with the composer taking an active part, might be considered the climax of almost 60 years of collaboration between two great makers of music: Eric Ericson and Ingvar Lidholm. (2 CDs)

Songlist: Laudi (1947) for mixed chorus, The Pillar of Time (Tidens pelare), The Sea (Havet), Breaking Up (Uppbrott), Afterwards (Efterat), Tre Visor, Canto LXXXI, The Persians, Libera me, Motto, Two Greek Epigrams, Greek Gravestone, Three Strindberg Songs, A Dream Play, ...a riveder de stelle

Review: From the foremost of Swedish choral conductors and editors, this complete and comprehensive manual for the training of choral conductors uses a rich variety of unusual repertoire for its conducting exercises.

Songlist: Techniques For Beating Time: Examples With Exercises, Rehearsing Methods, Other Books On Conducting, The Sound Of A Choir, Intonation, Improvising The Tone To Exersise The Reaction, Intonation Exercises, Playing The Score, Of Choirs And Instruments, Means Of Expression In Contemporary Choir Music, Music Publishers

Review: The tenaciously active superstar Eric Ericson celebrated his 90th birthday on October 26 2008. His international celebrity status is exceptional, and people everywhere talk with reverence of the "Swedish Choral Miracle" - an expression that is very much synonymous with his life work. In this unique 14-part documentary film "Teaching", Birgitta Ohman and Swedish Television have captured Eric Ericson's playful yet inspirational style of teaching at the Royal College of Music. Caprice Records in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music presents this TV series on one DVD along with a bonus interview with Ericson from 2008. Experience for yourself the process of interpreting and performing choral music from all eras. Appearing is Eric Ericson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Marianne Eklof, Thomas Jennefeldt, Stefan Parkman, among others.

Songlist: Conducting lesson with a. o. Anne Sofie von Otter, Conducting lesson: J.S. Bach & Sven-Erik Back, Conducting lesson: Arne Mellnas & Thomas Morley, Conducting lesson: David Wikander, Karl-Erik Welin & Bela Bartok, Thomas Morley & Orlando di Lasso, Lars Edlund, Kurt Lindgren & Bela Bartok, Warming up with Stefan Parkman, August Soderman, Alf Cranner, A.F. Lindblad & H.L Hassler, "Samtalssinfonietta": Georg Riedel, Sven-Erik Johanson & Johannes Brahms, En visa: Sven-Erik Back, No bird soars to high: Lars-Erik Larsson, Scherzo: Lars Edlund, Scherzo & "Femton finnar" arr. Lars Edlund, Bonus: Eric Ericson interview 2008